Authorities say two crew members are dead after an explosion on a ship in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement that the captain of the Tamar, a 623-foot Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier, reported an explosion in the forward storeroom Monday morning.

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The captain reported that one crew member was killed and three suffered massive burns. A second crewmember later died. The fire is extinguished but the cause is unknown.

The Coast Guard says New York Air National Guard pararescuers arrived Monday night and will stay with the ship until higher medical authority takes over. The Portuguese Coast Guard is set to pick up the injured.

The ship was headed to the Azores, Portugal, from Baltimore is about 1,300 miles east of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.